CUSA Team Updates, Week 13
Courtesy of CUSA
November 20, 2007


EAST CAROLINA PIRATES
The Pirates fell at Marshall on Nov. 10, 26-7. Senior RB Chris Johnson became the 10th Pirate in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single-season on his 18-yard scamper in the second quarter (the last was Marvin Townes with 1,128 yards in 2003). He finished with 72 yards (2,604/career) on 12 carries and moved into ninth place on the school's single-season rushing list (1,045). Johnson broke the ECU single-season record for most TDs (19), passing Leonard Henry (18 in 2001) with his four-yard TD run in the third quarter. Johnson broke C-USA's all-time KOR yard record with his 15-yard return in the fourth quarter and now has 2,562 yards surpassing Zek Parker of Louisville (2,558 yards from 1998-01). Johnson finished the game with 143 yards of total offense and now has 6,345 for his career. Junior DB J.J. Milbrook had 10 first half tackles (five solo, five assists) to set a new career-high and finished the game with 14 total stops to lead both squads. Senior LB Fred Wilson had 13 total tackles (three solo, 10 assists) on the night, a new career-best. The Pirates will close out their regular season against Tulane this Saturday.

HOUSTON COUGARS
The Cougars improved to 7-4 on the season (6-2 C-USA) following a 35-28 victory over Marshall on Saturday. The Cougars can earn a berth in the C-USA Championship Game for the second straight season if Rice can defeat Tulsa on Saturday. Senior RB Anthony Alridge carried 25 times for 103 yards and a touchdown, his 11th career 100-yard game (fifth in school history). He also had a receiving touchdown and the two scores gave him 17 on the season, second in UH annals. For the first time this season, the Cougars played just one quarterback, as redshirt freshman QB Case Keenum was 24-of-32 for 298 yards and two TDs. Junior TE Mark Hafner became the first Cougar tight end in 22 years to record a 100-yard game, establishing a career-high 128 yards on six catches and a career-long 62-yard touchdown. Former Cougar Carl Hilton had 116 yards and one score on five catches at Baylor on Oct. 6, 1985. With 46 receiving yards, senior WR Donnie Avery went over the 3,000-yard mark for his career, finishing with 3,026 and becoming just the third player in UH history to reach that mark. Saturday's win guarantees Houston back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since posting three in a row from 1988-90.

MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
Marshall came up just short Saturday as Houston posted a 35-28 win over the Herd in Houston. Senior QB Bernard Morris had another excellent game through the air, completing 20 of 32 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown. Running backs Darius Marshall, Chubb Small and Kelvin Turner combined for 134 rushing yards and three TDs. After the Cougars went ahead 3-0 on their first drive, Marshall countered to take a 7-0 lead when Morris connected on a 32-yard passing score to junior WR Emmanuel Spann with just 36 seconds remaining in the first quarter. It was the Herd's fist first-quarter touchdown of 2007. Houston regained the lead for good on a three-yard and took a 10-7 lead into the locker room. The Herd answered with a 13-yard touchdown run from Small, but Houston jumped out to a two-score lead once again. After a tough one-yard scoring run by Marshall, Kennum hit Hafner for a 62-yard touchdown. Marshall scored once more on a one-yard run by Turner with 2:31 remaining to cut the final deficit to seven points. Marshall finished the game with a team-high 66 yards on 12 carries.

MEMPHIS TIGERS
Senior RB Joseph Doss rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown and sophomore PK Matt Reagan kicked a career-high four field goals on Saturday as Memphis became bowl-eligible with a 25-9 victory over UAB. It was Doss' second 100-yard game of the season and the fifth of his career. Senior QB Martin Hankins threw for 298 yards and sophomore WR Duke Calhoun led Memphis receivers with 159 yards on four catches, including a pair of 70-yard receptions. The 100-yard receving game was his third-straight. Hankins, who had thrown for an average of 406 yards over the previous two games, completed 9-of-18 for 197 yards in the first half. The Tiger running attack managed 106 yards in the first half, and finished with 265 rushing for the game. Backup QB Will Hudgens registered his first career rushingTD when he pushed the pile for a one-yard score with 12:54 left in the second quarter. He finished the day with six carries for 21 yards. Calhoun extended his receiving streak to 22 games with a 70-yard reception in the second quarter. The 70-yard play was a career-long for Calhoun who has caught a pass in each of the 22 career games he has played in. Senior LB Jake Kasser finished with 13 tackles, including nine solos, while junior DB LeRico Mathis finished with 12 tackles, including 10 solos. The 13 tackles was a career best for Kasser, as was the nine solo tackles. The 12 (10 solo) tackles were both career-high for Mathis.

RICE OWLS
Junior QB Chase Clement threw four TD passes, but it was not enough as the Owls fell to Tulane, 45-31 on Saturday. Clement, who completed 35 of 55 pass attempts, passed for 345 yards and rushed for another 26 to push his season total offense total to 3,311 yards, besting the old Rice mark of 3,272 by Tommy Kramer in 1976. He also moved past 6,000 career yards of total offense, finishing the day with 6,103 yards. Clement needs just 234 yards to break the school career mark of 6,336 also by Kramer. His 345 yards passing pushed him over 5,000 career yards (5,125), which is third on the Owls career list. He raised his season total to 2,839 yards, second only to Kramer's 1976 total of 3,317. Junior WR Jarett Dillard caught nine passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 39 TD receptions in his career, which ties him with Devone Bess of Hawai'i for the most touchdown catches among active players and moves him into a tie for eighth place on the FBS all-time list with Braylon Edwards of Michigan. Redshirt freshman James Casey also caught a pair of touchdowns (including a 61-yarder), finishing the day with six receptions for a career-high 113 yards.

SMU MUSTANGS
The Mustangs closed out their home schedule with a 49-20 loss to East Division leader UCF on Saturday. Sophomore QB Justin Willis was just 11-of-24 for 112 yards with no touchdowns, while redshirt freshman Zach Rhodes saw his most extensive action, completing 7-of-14 passes for 64 yards and a touchdown. With 207 completions on the season, Willis became the fifth player in SMU history to have 200 completions in a season. Junior WR Columbus Givens led the Mustangs in receiving with five catches for 53 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown reception. Junior KR Jessie Henderson had five kickoff returns for 127 yards, moving him into second place on the school's all-time list for kickoff return yardage with 1,742. His 710 yards this season is the fourth-highest single-season total in SMU history. Junior P/K Thomas Morstead had a 51-yard field goal, his third 50-plus yard field goal this season and the fourth of his career. His season punting average of 44.5 ranks as the third-best in school history.

SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES
Sophomore RB Damion Fletcher ran for career-best 211 yards and three touchdowns and Southern Miss scored 42 second-half points in a 56-30 victory against UTEP on Saturday night. The Golden Eagles led 14-10 at halftime and scored on the first play of the second half when senior QB Jeremy Young found sophomore WR Gerald Baptiste wide open down the sideline for a 53-yard touchdown. Fletcher moved from No. 8 to No. 5 on the Southern Miss career rushing chart with 2,686. His performance marked the first 200-plus yard rushing game by a Golden Eagle since 2002. He tallied his seventh 100-yard rushing performance of the year and he now has 14 for his career, tying Derrick Nix for the second most at the school. He added a career-high tying three rushingTDs, coming from one, three and 13 yards and now has 14 rushing TDs this season, which is tied for third in school annals. Young has now thrown at least one touchdown in all seven games that he has thrown a pass this season. He tallied his fifth career multi-TD night and now is in sixth place with 21. Young also threw for over 200 yards for the third time this season with 205 passing yards. The TD catch for Baptiste was the first of his career. With 568 yards of total offense, Southern Miss went over 500 yards for the first time since they earned 550 against UL-Lafayette on Nov. 1, 2003. The Golden Eagles are 6-0 this season when they have led at the half.

TULANE GREEN WAVE
Senior RB Matt Forté ran for 194 yards and tied his C-USA and Tulane records with five rushing touchdowns to lead the Green Wave to a 45-31 win at Rice on Saturday. Forté became the 11th player in FBS history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single-season, finishing the game with 2,007 yards. Forté's 4,145 career rushing yards remains second in Tulane history and is now just 219 behind Mewelde Moore's career mark of 4,364 from 2000-03. With 245 all-purpose yards against Rice (194 rushing, 51 receiving) Forté now has 2,272 on the year and 5,116 for his career (4,145 rushing, 960 receiving, 11 returning). His single-season all-purpose yardage total broke the Tulane record of 2,259 set by Moore in 2001. With 22 touchdowns and a two-point conversion this season, Forté has set a new Tulane single-season record for points scored with 134. Sophomore Anthony Scelfo started under center for Tulane, running for 55 yards and completing 5-of-12 passes for 63 yards, but redshirt-freshman Kevin Moore who alternated series with Scelfo throughout the ballgame - came off the bench to lead the team with 125 yards on 6-of-10 passing. Sophomore WR Jeremy Williams led the Green Wave with four catches, and junior WR Michael Batiste led the squad with a career-best 61 yards on three grabs. Saturday's victory gave Tulane back-to-back wins for the first time since Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, 2005 and the 45 points were the most scored on the road by a Green Wave team since a 49-35 triumph at Army on Nov. 14, 1998.

TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
Tulsa improved to 8-3 on the season with a 49-39 victory at Army on Saturday, the Golden Hurricane's fourth straight victory. Senior QB Paul Smith passed for 306 yards in the first half for his 11th consecutive 300-yard passing game. He finished the day 22-of-32 for 390 yards and two TDs. The two TD passes allowed Smith to set a new Tulsa single-season record with 34, just two shy of the C-USA record of 36, set by Tulane's Shaun King in 1998. True freshman WR Trae Johnson went over the 100-yard mark in receiving for the third time this season, catching nine passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. Junior WR Brennan Marion's first reception went for 60 yards and his second for 50 yards, giving him 12 receptions for over 40 yards and 18 catches for 20+ yards this year. The 110-yard receiving day marked his fifth 100-yard day this year and it was the third time in 2007 that a pair of Tulsa receivers topped the century mark. Junior RB Tarrion Adams carried 17 times for 118 yards and also scored twice. Senior LB Nelson Coleman had nine tackles to tie the school's all-time tackle record of 389, set by Michael White (1987, 89-91). With 622 yards of total offense, the Golden Hurricane has topped the 600-yard mark four times this season. Tulsa established a single-season school record for passing first downs today. The record was 162 first downs passing in the 1965 season. The Golden Hurricane scored more than 30 points for the eighth time this season, and the 37th time since the 2003 season (the last 62 games). It's also the fifth time this year that Tulsa has gone over 40 points, including in each of the last three games.

UAB BLAZERS
The Blazers fell to Memphis on Saturday, 25-9. UAB's scores came on a 26-yard field goal by junior PK Swayze Waters, and a 1-yard run by junior RB Brandon Thornton, the first rushing touchdown by a Blazer running back this season. Senior QB Sam Hunt completed 11-of-19 passes for 121 yards for UAB. The Blazers switched quarterbacks between Joseph Webb and Hunt. The pair combined to complete hit 25-of-39 passing for 233 yards. WR Frantrell Forrest has set UAB freshman records for receptions (42) and receiving yards (499) through 11 games. Forrest tied his season high with seven receptions against the Tigers.. UAB's trio of freshman receivers (Forrest, Mario Wright and Mike Jones) combined for 17 catches and 163 yards. Waters is now 21-of-26 on the season on field goals, a UAB single-season record for most field goals.

UCF KNIGHTS
The Knights clinched at least a share of the East Division with its 49-20 win over SMU in Dallas on Saturday. The Knights reached eight wins for the second time under O'Leary (8-5; 2005). With four rushing TDs in the game, the Knights now have 36 rushing scores on the season, which is the second most in C-USA history. Junior RB Kevin Smith led the Knights with 177 yards and two TD. Smith, who did not play in the second half after the Knights jumped out to a 35-13 halftime lead, set a Conference USA record with 25 touchdowns this season. He broke the mark established in 2004 by Memphis running back and current NFL back DeAngelo Williams. The 25 scores are the 11th most in the FBS this season. His multiple-touchdown game was his ninth of the season. With his 80-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, Smith went over the 4,000-yard career rushing mark in his career becoming just the second back in the state of Florida to achieve that feat. Smith's 80-yard scoring jaunt was his third rushing TD of 80 yards or longer this season, which is the most in the FBS. Smith posted his 10th 100-yard rushing game of the season, which set a single-season school record and tied the state of Florida single-season record. His 10 100-yard rushing games this season leads the FBS.

UTEP MINERS
Playing in his final home game, senior RB Marcus Thomas ran 22 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns, but the Miners fell to Southern Miss, 56-30 on Saturday. The two rushing TDs gave him 16 on the season and he became the first UTEP player since 1988 and the fourth in program history to eclipse 100 points in a season (108 entering the season finale). He now has 2,616 career yards, which places him fifth all-time in school history. Sophomore WR Jeff Moturi reeled in a TD pass for his nation-leading 10th consecutive game. It was his 13th TD catch of the year, which equals the second-highest single-season total in program history. Senior WR Joe West finished with a career-best 153 receiving yards on seven catches, including a 77-yard touchdown reception. Junior K Jose Martinez improved to 15-of-18 on the year on FGs after drilling a 38-yarder in the second quarter. After entering the game with just one career punt, sophomore P Greg Hiett boomed four kicks for 193 yards, an average of 48.3 yards per punt.